Will Zuma go to jail?
The Constitutional Court this week sentenced Zuma to 15 months in jail after his refusal to testify before the Zondo commission – but there is some doubt that he will spend time behind bars. Izak du Plessis spoke to a legal expert and a political analyst about the case.
Even though he should be treated equally, former president Jacob Zuma will probably get preferential treatment in jail, says University of Pretoria legal expert Dr Llewelyn Curlewis.
“Zuma is a sentenced prisoner, so he is supposed to wear his orange overall. That being said, he is a former president of this country; he is a high-profile person. There is a lot of sympathy for him out there, whether we like it or not, and he is an older person. It might be to the benefit of the greater scheme of things to treat him differently from other prisoners,” Curlewis says.
He says this case is unprecedented in South African law.
A victory for SA Constitution
Political analyst and deputy vice-chancellor of Fort Hare University Dr Oscar van Heerden says this should be a time of festivity for South Africans.
“But it is not about a celebration of an individual such as Jacob Zuma having to go to jail. It is about the court sending a very clear message that our constitutional order and our independent courts will be protected at all costs,” says Van Heerden.
The judgment sends a clear message to the ANC about corrupt individuals within its ranks, Van Heerden adds.
He says a case like this is the kind of embarrassment the party will have to deal with on a continuous basis if it does not deal decisively with party members bringing the organisation into disrepute.
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